Raspberry Pi for imaging rig - advice

[teoria_del_big_bang]

I am looking at trying out a RPi 4B, probably with Astroberry to to mount on my mount somewhere and then somehow link via WiFi or use it as a hotspot if away from home.

Does anyone have thoughts on what case to use. I guess I need to make some effort to make the RPi at least slashproof. Whilst I obviously do not intent to leave it out in the rain there is always a small chance of some shower happening before I can get the rig back in my garage, and besides need to at least shield it from dust blowing about. So what have others done regarding enclosure?

Power supply - Whilst imaging in my garden I intend to use the usual 3A 5V power supply and to make it easier maybe use a USB C extension cable permanantly on the mount so the supply actually plugs into the end of the extension cable which is routed so as not to cause any cable drag (probably internally to the CEM 60). The volt drop should not be enough over 1 to 2M extension cable to cause an issue.  But - what do people do in the field to provide the 5V from 12V supply. 

Any other advice in addition to the questions will be more than welcome 🙂 

Steve 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Stuart1971]

Hi Steve,

the flirc RPI4 case it superb I use one with mine....

As for power supply the rpi4 needs around 4amps, I use a Pegasus UPB V2, this powers all my kit....so just one 12v power cable to the mount...Which comes from a 15amp 13.8v supply...Then I run Kstars on my PC indoors, and the rpi is just the indi server, so no need to use any Remote Desktop software...Astroberry works also exactly like this... 👍😮

[teoria_del_big_bang]

I think I have looked at that Pegasus V2 before and wow isn't it a beauty. But a beauty of a price as well which is probably why I don't own one. Maybe the wrong attitude as paying 500 Euros or so to run £1000's of equipment is not such a crazy idea.

However, having recently retired I doubt one will be on my list soon but I can wish. 

Out of mere interest where do you take your 5V for the rpi ? via a USB port or have you programmed it to deliver 5V on another supply port ?  

The other points really interest me and your comments on another of my threads about sequence control, saying pretty much the same, is actually what really set me off ordering a rpi  4B with a view to running it like that. 

Cheers

Steve

[teoria_del_big_bang]

42 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

the flirc RPI4 case it superb I use one with mine....

Thanks Stuart,

That would be this one ?

flirc-raspberry-pi-4-case

I did look at this and it does look very sturdy.  Is it easy to attach to the mount in some way ?

Steve

[TerryMcK]

Without doubt this is the best case I have for my numerous PI4s Steve

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZVK86HC This is a CNC totally metal case with integral heatsink. It even came with thermally conductive rubber to aid dissipation. Very solidly made with optional rubber feet. If using wireless it doesn’t appear to shield the RF in anyway and I’ve been able to use my iPad from quite a distance to pop into the hotspot.

I also use a cheapo power supply which is surprisingly good https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TWMFB92

If using a battery to power the rig it is beneficial to have an inbuilt inverter into the battery so you can plug the Pi supply into 230volts. There are many other ways of deriving 5v of course.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

5 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

Without doubt this is the best case I have for my numerous PI4s Steve

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZVK86HC This is a CNC totally metal case with integral heatsink. It even came with thermally conductive rubber to aid dissipation. Very solidly made with optional rubber feet. If using wireless it doesn’t appear to shield the RF in anyway and I’ve been able to use my iPad from quite a distance to pop into the hotspot.

That is a nice case very similar to the one @Stuart1971 suggested both look great and are very sturdy.

Steve

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Thanks Stuart,

That would be this one ?

flirc-raspberry-pi-4-case

I did look at this and it does look very sturdy.  Is it easy to attach to the mount in some way ?

Steve

Well, I put velcro on the bottom of my case and fitted it that way... 👍

Edited May 14, 2020 by Stuart1971

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Where would we be without velcro 🙂  

Cheers

Steve

[jiberjaber]

6 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I am looking at trying out a RPi 4B, probably with Astroberry to to mount on my mount somewhere and then somehow link via WiFi or use it as a hotspot if away from home.

Does anyone have thoughts on what case to use. I guess I need to make some effort to make the RPi at least slashproof. Whilst I obviously do not intent to leave it out in the rain there is always a small chance of some shower happening before I can get the rig back in my garage, and besides need to at least shield it from dust blowing about. So what have others done regarding enclosure?

Power supply - Whilst imaging in my garden I intend to use the usual 3A 5V power supply and to make it easier maybe use a USB C extension cable permanantly on the mount so the supply actually plugs into the end of the extension cable which is routed so as not to cause any cable drag (probably internally to the CEM 60). The volt drop should not be enough over 1 to 2M extension cable to cause an issue.  But - what do people do in the field to provide the 5V from 12V supply. 

Any other advice in addition to the questions will be more than welcome 🙂 

Steve 

 

I run Astroberry, it's good, at the moment I'm using a simple 3d printed case with the fan mounted inside.  Power wise I use a 12V to USB converter which advertises 2.5A capability so just one supply to the mount (12V) 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XSCCLCD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think that FLIRC case looks great and think I'll probably migrate to that eventually. 

On mine I am lucky to have a gigabit link long with my 12V feed from the house that I roll out when needed.  I did try POE as a solution but it didn't want to play over the cable distance for some reason (power worked, but not network, suspect it was the injection kit).

I run Kstars/Ekos on the device and remote in to the device, I don't find Kstars stable enough on Windows to trust it and I am happy to let the Pi do the work, it doesn't seem to miss a heart beat in that respect.  My images are saved over the network when captured.

[Stuart1971]

9 hours ago, jiberjaber said:

I run Astroberry, it's good, at the moment I'm using a simple 3d printed case with the fan mounted inside.  Power wise I use a 12V to USB converter which advertises 2.5A capability so just one supply to the mount (12V) 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XSCCLCD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think that FLIRC case looks great and think I'll probably migrate to that eventually. 

On mine I am lucky to have a gigabit link long with my 12V feed from the house that I roll out when needed.  I did try POE as a solution but it didn't want to play over the cable distance for some reason (power worked, but not network, suspect it was the injection kit).

I run Kstars/Ekos on the device and remote in to the device, I don't find Kstars stable enough on Windows to trust it and I am happy to let the Pi do the work, it doesn't seem to miss a heart beat in that respect.  My images are saved over the network when captured.

😮😮 My OCD would not allow a mass of wires like that....

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Well the project starts here 🙂 

 

[jiberjaber]

On 15/05/2020 at 10:33, Stuart1971 said:

😮😮 My OCD would not allow a mass of wires like that....

Like every good temporary installation, it's sort of become permanent! It was just a proof of concept originally, but it's been too useful in its current form!

[Doug64]

Just set mine up using the Flirc case and so far it's great.

A big learning curve for me but I've got time on my hands at the moment.

I'm sure you'll enjoy using the Rpi.

Doug

[teoria_del_big_bang]

10 hours ago, Doug64 said:

Just set mine up using the Flirc case and so far it's great.

A big learning curve for me but I've got time on my hands at the moment.

I'm sure you'll enjoy using the Rpi.

Doug

Doug,

Yup, definitely a good time to do a change like this with lots of time at home and with the short nights with lack of astronomical darkness there is not much lot in a session anyway. Best to get all bugs ironed out before the longer dark nights come back. Hope all goes well.

I have another thread going about this because I am struggling with guiding using the Pi at the moment. No doubt I have something setup incorrectly but not got that working at moment.

Steve